Cherry Blossom Training: Week 7 Recap

It’s Wednesday again! Hopefully everything has been going great in your world! I am so excited about March Madness…it’s a guilty pleasure! I always agonize over getting my bracket together, but I usually do pretty well. Fingers crossed that I win the pool this year…go Villanova!

I know that I haven’t been posting as much lately, but it’s definitely got something to do with how much I’ve been training for the Cherry Blossom Run! It’s been a huge commitment working so hard for this race, but for me, it’s worth it. I can’t wait to see how it all turns out…still 3.5 weeks to go!

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Week 7 Cherry Blossom Training Recap:

Wednesday 3/11: Since the day before, the top of my left foot was hurting, so I was a little worried about going for a run. Not to mention I was feeling in a bit of a funk, so I took it as a rest day.

Thursday 3/12: Thankfully my foot pain (and blues) went away and I was ready for speed work! For the first time, I had to do: 1 mile warmup followed by 3 miles at 10:20 pace. But I guess I felt a little bit too good…and my splits were way too fast! I couldn’t believe it! The wind was fierce and I was just trying to run against it for most of my run, but it looks like I’m a lot faster than I realize!

Friday 3/13: 3 mile run followed by strides, I made sure to keep it slow!

Saturday 3/14: Since it was a very rainy morning, for the first time in MONTHS I went to yoga class at Focus Barre and Yoga. It was a gentle yoga class aimed for beginners, which I think was exactly what I needed! It’s always humbling to see how certain poses become a lot harder without regular practice. We did a lot of twisting and warrior poses which used to be my bread and butter, but are now a source of achiness for days! I always feel so much better coming out of class, so I need to figure out where to get a yoga membership on the cheap and get back to work!

Sunday 3/15: Finally, I had the big one: 10-mile training run. I was supposed to get up bright and early to tackle the distance but I ended up not heading out until after 3 pm. I made sure to keep to my 11:30 pace, and for the most part, I was slower than that. But I didn’t feel like a rock star on this long run, not even close. I started to feel discomfort in my stomach around mile 5 which would come and go, and around mile 6 my left knee started to hurt, then my right. I was still fueling, but was scared to eat so many gels for obvious reasons…but when I got to my final mile I really felt like I was out of gas and took one gel around the 9.5 mile mark. My knees were in a lot of a pain and with struggling to use stairs post-run, I am convinced more than ever that my Superfeet insoles are shot. Making sure my hips and glutes are strong also helps me maintain proper running form, so I’ll keep it up.

Monday 3/16: This was a rough run! Only 3 miles at an 11-minute pace, but my legs felt super heavy and I was sluggish the whole way! I was so exhausted post-run that I fell asleep around 8:30 pm!

Tuesday 3/17: A very straightforward Boot Camp workout. I was surprised that the 10-pound weights felt a lot heavier than usual, and it seemed like I hadn’t worked my abs in ages! It’s so important to cross train!

4 mile speedwork…a little too fast, oops!

Week 7 Report Card:

This week was NOT easy.

I’ve been a little bit out of control with my paces this week, and while I’m grateful that I can go faster than I realized, I need to reign it in. I’m glad that Coach Kristy is able to keep me in check, and I don’t want to let her down!

So I’m going to be really strict with everything I do moving forward. It’s exciting to wonder how it’ll all go down for the race! I just need to stick to the plan and hope for the best!

My 10-mile run was tough and I think it showed that I still need to do more squat and lunge exercises for my quads. It was definitely the worst I have felt during any of my runs. The horrible wind and overcast skies didn’t help either…but I still got it done!

Primarily because of the speed slip-ups, I’m going to give this week a B!

What’s up? Did you race over the weekend? Are you getting into March Madness?